1. Explore Through Questions

Take time to get to know people and find out about their spiritual journeys. Focus more on listening to someone’s story and figuring out where that person is spiritually than on getting through a gospel presentation.

Jesus was a master of using questions. See Luke 5 and Matthew 11 to read about how Jesus used thoughtful questions to teach the people.

2. Guide People Toward Jesus by Sharing Your Story

When you ask good questions and listen well, it often leads to opportunities to share your experience and what you believe.

“And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it” (1 Peter 3:15, NLT).

One way to be prepared is to learn to tell your spiritual story. This can be the story of how you became a Christian or it can be the story of how God changed you in a particular area of life.

3. Guide People Toward Jesus by Sharing the Gospel

Whether you’re sharing about God’s forgiveness and love through your personal story or you just want to share the foundational message of the Bible, be ready to tell someone how to become a Christian.

Check out God Tools and these other free apps that will give you access to the “Knowing God Personally” booklet and other tools to share your faith in a way that’s easy for people to understand.

4. Build Bridges Over People’s Obstacles and Objections

Building bridges over someone’s obstacles and objections takes love, wisdom and prayer. Remember that there may be more to a question than what’s on the surface.

Someone may say, “I can’t believe in God because there is too much suffering in the world.” You can present the best rational argument about the reason for suffering, but it won’t make a difference if that person’s true obstacle is that a loved one died a violent death.

People need to know that believing in God doesn’t require them to abandon their intellect, but they also need to know that God loves them and cares about their personal struggles.

Remember that you’re not trying to win an argument, you’re trying to invite people into a relationship with God.

5. Mentor People to Help Them Grow in Their Faith

It’s exciting to see people put their faith in Jesus, but that isn’t the end of the journey. In fact, it’s just the beginning of the exciting adventure of the Christian life. When people decide to follow Jesus, they need other Christians to continue to come alongside them so they can learn more about their new faith and how to grow closer to God.